Forgotten Allies
by lXSilverWingedAngellX
Summary: A young girl named Mierie meets the one called The Dark Keybearer, and they set out on a journey to find what is forgotten. Companion to The Dark Keybearer
1. A Place Called Home

**A Place Called Home**

"Beautiful isn't it?" Father used to say when he took me for walks after dinner. He loved to stare down at the floating glaciers and rising waterfalls below our village.

"I guess." I answered back, trying to keep up with his long strides. Being only six, I didn't always look at things as well as Father did. Father liked to observe and really put some thought into his findings. We walked in silence for a while, passing by the tents and huts of other village residents.

Our village was quite small, and very overcrowded. Mother had found it difficult to plant her garden without it going into the neighbors' property. Father had his share of troubles too. He had problems trying to find room to practice fighting with his sword. Father used to be a great warrior and traveled a lot before I was born. When he met my mother and had me, he retired from being a warrior and moved to the village. Although he was no longer a great warrior, he still managed to keep up his fighting skills. Mother had once told me that Father and her were a lot happier since we moved to the village. She told me that this village had changed their lives. This village was called Hallow Bastion.

"Dad," I said, breaking the silence between us. "What was it like going to other places?"

Father chuckled, for we had this conversation time and time again. "I told you many times before Mierie." He walked on, hoping to change the subject.

"Tell me again!" I said as I followed close behind him. Father sighed and closed his eyes, going deep in thought.

"It was…interesting." I looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Just interesting?" Father stopped on the path to think. He couldn't help but smirk at the curious face that looked up at him.

"I'm not so sure I can tell you Mie." Father said as he got out of his thinking position. My mouth dropped.

"Why not?" I said as Father walked past me.

"Well, I suppose it is something you are going to have to find out for yourself." He said while watching the sun set on the horizon. I then held my head high and marched alongside Father.

"Then I will!" Father smiled and silence fell once again as we neared the end of our walk. It wasn't long before I asked another question.

"Dad," I said, looking up at him. "Do you think I could go farther…like, to other worlds?" Father stopped walking and looked down at me. He scratched his chin and looked very serious about it.

"I suppose you could. I mean, if you can go to other places, why not other worlds, right?" I looked back up at him and smiled. Father was like my best friend. I could confide in him and have serious conversations with him.

"I'll see all the worlds Dad!" I took his hand in mine and walked toward our hut. "And when I do, I'll tell you all about em'!"

Father smiled. "I'll be waiting Mierie. I'll be waiting."


	2. A Stranger in the Night

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. I know the first chapter was pretty vague and boring, so I hope this one will be more fit to your liking…( sheesh, I should get you a drink and a chair while I'm at it) Anyway, this chapter will prove to be a bit more interesting. I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. Only Mierie and her parents for now. Anyways, on with the show!

I woke with a start and sat up in my bed. Bits of sweat dripped down my face and I started to breathe heavily. I looked around, making sure I was in the comfort of my bedroom and not plunging to my death. _I was falling… _I thought to myself as I looked down at my tattered doll on the floor. _I was falling from the sun, and then to darkness…_I closed my eyes and tried to steady my breath._ I couldn't move I couldn't breathe-_ I tried to silence the voice in my head that was shouting all this nonsense. _Just a dream…Just a dream…_The voice started to grow louder every time I tried to shut it out.

I'm going mad…I thought to myself. I picked my doll off the floor and stroked her golden hair. It was actually yarn. Mother made the doll for me when I was born. We had no money to buy a real doll. Even though I was going to be seven, I was mature enough not to ask for one. I knew it would hurt Mother's feelings and Father would only lecture me about being satisfied with what I had. "If we should be happy with what we have, then why does everyone want more?" I once asked Father. "It's in our nature to want more Mie. It's only human." I wasn't satisfied with his answer one bit. Why should everyone else long for more and I couldn't? I always wished I could have a friend that wanted the same answers as me. "Maybe someday…" I'd say to myself. 

I closed my eyes once again and rested my head on my pillow. I tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position. I had a baseball game the next morning and wanted to play my best. I directed my attention toward my bedroom window and stared at the ray of light pouring out of it. I sighed softly and closed my eyes, trying to force myself to go to sleep. I put my head under my blankets and scrunched up into a ball.

Then suddenly, I heard voices. They were coming from outside my bedroom window. Hushed, tense voices. They sounded like Mother and Father. They were probably out for a short walk… I then heard another voice…the voice of a stranger. A man was out there with them. His voice sounded dark and mysterious as he spoke. _"You call yourself a friend do you? I'd expect that behavior from the rest, but not from you Rowan."_ I leaned in close, listening harder. _"I am sorry to have upset you Sephiroth, but we must move on. Those days are over…" _Father sounded brave, but I could sense a bit of worry in his voice. Who was this stranger? How could he frighten my parents so?

I slipped out of bed quietly, and sat next to my window, listening for more._ "Please go Sephiroth, we mean you no harm. We have a child now and the rest must have children too."_ Mother was pleading. She sounded close to tears. And who are "the rest"? I looked through the window, my curiosity taking over, and my eyes widened.

For a few feet away I could see Mother and Father, and the most frightening man I had ever seen. He was a little taller than Father, and he had long silver hair that was blowing in the breeze like a mist on a spooky, dark night. The smirk on his face was almost as dangerous as the long, sharp sword he held at his side. And a large, dark wing protruded from his back, which made his appearance seem even more threatening.

_ "I would appreciate it if you left us alone Sephiroth" _Father stepped in front of Mother and was starting to get frustrated._ "And I would appreciate it if you would put that thing away." _Father gestured toward the enormous sword at the stranger's side. _"There will be no use for weapons here."_ The stranger glared at Father and then raised his sword to Father's chest. I gasped, then covered my mouth, for Mother had heard it, but remained still and petrified._ "What's wrong Rowan?" _The stranger said mockingly._ "Losing your touch?"_ He then pushed Father back, not sure whether to kill him, or wait for him to defend himself.

_ "I will fight when needed." _Father said as he straightened himself up._ "I will not be forced." _Mother still stood petrified and unsure of what to do._ "You dare speak that way in the face of death?"_ The stranger said as he stepped toward Mother and Father in a threatening way. His black boots crunching gravel beneath his feet._ "I doubt you would kill me Sephiroth."_ Father said as he met the stranger's gaze._ "Your words were always much more stronger than you actions." _The stranger's eyes narrowed. Perhaps he was giving up. Father was usually good at that.

He then turned to Mother. _"Go inside and get some sleep love, we're done here."_ Mother hesitated for a few seconds, and then walked slowly back to our hut. He then turned back to the stranger. _"If you have no more to say Sephiroth, then this conversation is over…Goodnight Sephiroth."_ Father then turned toward the direction of our hut. I sighed softly, and was about to go back to bed until I saw the stranger put his hand on Father's shoulder and quickly and forcefully turned him around.

_ "Do you have no compassion you fool? Or do you just not care?" _Hatred started burning in the stranger's eyes._ "Olivia has died! The least you could do is see Ansem!_ Father then took the stranger's hand off his shoulder._ "Sephiroth, Olivia and Ansem were my closest friends. Of course I feel remorse for her."_ The stranger scowled as he stepped back._ "But we made a promise Sephiroth. A promise that we would never see each other again, so that our children can be safe. And as a loyal friend of Ansem's, I cannot break that promise."_ Father then looked toward the great castle in the distance. _"We have longed for this simple happiness. To have a family, and to be away from the darkness and terror that surrounded our lives so long ago. _

Father looked back toward the stranger._ "It's all for the best…"_ One could almost see the anger boiling up inside the great figure that stood across from my Father. It looked as though he was ready to explode at any moment. _" That darkness is the reason for Olivia's death, Rowan!"_ His face came very close to Father's._ "We may have run away from it, but we certainly have not escaped it!"_ His face was then turned a dark red._ "Olivia was a strong woman…stronger than any of us."_ He then turned away, in the direction of the path he took to get here._ " She would have appreciated it if you saw Ansem again…Believe me Rowan…"_

His silver hair then blew slightly in the wind. _"The least we could do is find a cure so that no one else suffers the same fate Olivia suffered…"_ He turned again to face Father._ "Don't you agree?"_ Father was silent. I could tell he was deep in thought, as he usually was with me. He then looked at the stranger, pain and sorrow in his eyes.

_ "I'll do it…"_ Father managed to say. _"I'll do it for Olivia. I won't do it for the group…I won't go down that road again…"_ Millions of questions buzzed through my head like angry bees. Who is Ansem and Olivia? What's the darkness? And where did this stranger named Sephiroth come from? Another world? _"Ansem will greatly appreciate it Rowan…And I know Olivia would as well…"_ Father then looked at the ground, as if searching for something to say. The stranger then smirked. I could tell it wasn't a good smirk. It was as if he was hiding something behind that sorrowful face of his.

_ "Then it's agreed. We see Ansem." _The stranger stepped toward Father and once again put his hand on his shoulder._ "Together…" _Father looked up into the stranger's eyes._ "Yes good friend…We shall."_ Satisfied with the answer, the stranger stepped back and started to make his way down the path he came from.

_ "Remember Sephiroth…" _Father said, speaking up. _"This is not for the-," " The group." _The stranger said, stopping on the path. _"I know Rowan…"_ He stared ahead, not even bothering to look at Father. Father gave a quick nod in the stranger's direction, and made his way in the direction of our hut. The stranger stayed still for a few seconds, staring off into the distance. _"You haven't changed a bit Rowan."_ The stranger chuckled as he disappeared into the night.

Author's Note: Was that better? If it was, then R&R!


	3. Disappearing Act

Author's Note: Sorry again for the wait. Been pretty busy deciding what I was gonna to do next. In this chapter a year has gone by. Just incase anyone gets confuzzled. Anyway, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters, just Mie and her parents.

I looked into the blazing fire, trying to gather my thoughts. I scrunched up in my blanket to keep warm. I then looked into the blank face of Father who was sitting on a log across from me. He stared into the bright orange flames that seemed to be dancing to the rhythm of the cool night breeze and the sound of peoples' distant voices. All the while, his eyes never looked up to face me, or any other shadow that came to pass.

It had been a year since the stranger named Sephiroth came to our village and threatened to kill Father. The image of him was still burned in my mind as if it had happened the night before. So many questions went through my head that night. Questions that I did and didn't want answered. I couldn't explain it. I always thought of Father as a strong, noble warrior. A hero. I didn't know what to think of him if he wasn't. I mean, what was so bad about Mother and Father's secret anyway? Was it so bad that they couldn't tell me? That's what I worried about.

"_What are you thinking about Mierie?"_ Father said suddenly. I was shaken out of my thoughts and instantly looked at his face. He was still staring at the fire, not even looking up. I wasn't surprised. He rarely made eye contact with anyone anymore. _"Nothing really…"_ I sighed, looking down at my feet. It made me sad to see Father like this. Ever since he went to that castle a few days after Sephiroth arrived, he hasn't been the same. It was as if he saw something so horrible, he lost all sense of emotion. Sometimes I wondered if he even noticed how much his quietness and absence affected us. Sometimes Mother cried at nights when he wasn't here with us. He was usually out walking along the path we used to take after dinner. Sometimes I missed those walks.

"_That's unusual…You usually always have a question to ask."_ Father still didn't look at me, but I could sense he wanted to get into a conversation. Something he rarely did anymore._ "I remember when you were very little, and always questioned about the outside world and why we did certain things…I greatly admired your inquisitiveness."_ He then stared down at the ground._ "Something I never truly possessed as a child…"_

This made me wake up from my thoughts. Father never talked about his past. Even at the age of eight, Father's childhood had been a mystery to me._ "Why not?"_ I cocked my head to one side, something I usually did when we used to have these conversations. He then chuckled softly. As if he knew what I was doing even though he wasn't looking at me.

"_Well, I wasn't one to question I suppose…"_ He threw a piece of wood into the fire, once again locking his gaze on it._ "I suppose all the small things didn't matter to me… They sort of confused me."_ I started to have mixed feelings about Father now. He was showing another side of himself I had never witnessed before. It was as if he was opening up what had been concealed all this time.

" _Well once again, I wasn't one to question."_ He then leaned forward, coming closer to the fire. _"I was too shy to ask any questions…"_ He smiled to himself, as if memories were slowly, but surely coming back to him. _"Unlike you Mierie, I never imagined what could possibly be beyond our own world, even our own existence. I suppose this place seems like a prison to you. You find all ways out blocked, and the only thing you can do is dream…"_

I didn't know what to say. It was as if I was talking to a different person, not my father I thought I knew. _" It's just confusing."_ I said, staring out to the side._ "When I think I figured out something, it turns out to be completely different…" _I didn't know how to say this to him. We never talked about anything like this. _" Things may seem confusing now Mie, but if you give it time and patience, everything will soon make sense…"_

He then looked at me for the first time in ages. It seemed as though he was just looking through me, not at me. He still seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. _" It may require great effort, and some sacrifices, but you will soon find your way through all of this confusion and darkness…You will find a light to guide you, Mierie._ He then grunted as he got up and stretched. I still sat down, trying to process everything he had said. I didn't completely understand, but I learned to trust what Father said. I knew that he couldn't possibly be making this up.

"_It's getting late Mie, what do you say we call it a night?"_ Father then lifted me up and smiled, just like old times. I nodded and then wrapped the blanket even tighter around me, noticing how cold it was._ "Dad?"_ I said, finally having the courage to speak._ "Did you ever find your light?"_ This was a question I've been wanting to ask him. This question has been in the back of my mind for ages until now. Father looked down at me, and we stared at each other for the longest time._ "I have not Mierie." _He finally said, sounding a little sad._ "I thought that my past journeys as a warrior would help me find it…But they had failed me…Like everything else."_ I looked away from him. I didn't want to get caught up in his emotions. They surrounded him like a barrier and I didn't want to feel the sorrow he was feeling.

"_Enough of this."_ He turned away, staring out in the distance. _"Off to bed with you. It's been a long night…" _I gave him another nod and then turned around slowly, feeling his hand on my shoulder. _"Don't forget this night Mierie, what we talked about…"_ I then closed my eyes and sighed._ "I won't…"_ I ran toward the direction of our hut, leaving Father to stand alone in the night's darkness.

I woke the next morning feeling queasy. All the thoughts and emotions from the previous night got to me. Father has revealed a completely other side of himself and opened his thoughts to me. That was something I thought would never happen in at least a thousand years. _Why did he want to share his thoughts and feelings with me now? He had eight years to do so. Why now?_ I was thinking that all throughout last night. Could he possibly be trying to tell me something?

I yawned and slipped out of bed. I walked toward my bedroom window, opening the curtains to let the rays of the morning sun through. I drowsily looked out the window, expecting to see the usual pathways and floating glaciers of our village. My eyes instantly widened as I realized this sight was not normal. Nothing would soon be normal after this day passed. Out in the distance, instead of seeing the empty horizon, I saw a great space-like ship blocking the usual sights of the usual mornings.

I ran out my bedroom door screaming all the way. _"Mom! Dad! A spaceship! A spaceship!"_ I wish I could have kept on running, for nothing was going to prepare me for what I saw next. Mother was on the floor, cupping her face in her hands. She was crying…I just stared at her with my big, aqua eyes until common sense kicked in and I knelt down beside her. _"Mom, what's wrong?"_ I tried to console her, but her tears just fell down one after another. _"Mom!" _I put a comforting arm around her and tried to listen to what she was saying through sobs._ "He…he…left!"_ I didn't know whom she was talking about, until I looked around. There was no one in the hut…just the two of us… I then immediately shot out the open door, leaving Mother to sit on the floor, practically drowning in her own tears.

I ran. I didn't know where, I just wanted to run. _It couldn't be. He wouldn't…Why?_ I ran as far as my little legs would carry me. The wind blew through my braids with each passing step. _Why would he do this? It isn't him!_ I ran to the edge of our village, our world. The ship was now in plain sight, docked on the largest glacier in the distance. I looked around frantically, until I saw a familiar figure, hopping from glacier to glacier.

"_DAD!"_ I screamed as I hopped onto a glacier below me, and worked my way down._ "DAD!"_ I followed close behind, screaming bloody murder all the way. I tried to hold back tears, but I was confused. _Why was he acting this way?_ What affected me most was that he didn't turn around. He acted as if I wasn't even there. Like my screaming was just the wind.

He was near the ship, opening its doors to let himself in. Wherever he was going, I wanted him to take me too. I didn't want to live in this prison alone. I jumped onto the last glacier, where the ship was docked, and just stared at him. He turned around and stared back at me. His eyes seemed sorrowful and almost wet. I looked back at him with my huge eyes, not realizing that I was crying.

"_I…I'm sorry Mie…"_ He then looked away, but not fast enough to conceal the tear that fell down his cheek. I was just left there to stare, to see him turn around and go inside the ship. I was just left there to stare tear stained as I watched him depart from this world forever. Not even one goodbye or a hug and a kiss. As the ship lifted off the ground, I was just left there to stand alone in all the confusion and secrets that surrounded me ever since I was born.

These secrets left wounds in me. Wounds that would affect my life and future. But this particular wound, a wound Father left after his sudden departure, affected the only thing that could hurt me most. My Heart. And I felt that this particular wound would never heal.


End file.
